JP2010055219A - Input device, input system, display device, and mobile phone - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To transmit information about a direction which an input device faces without consuming electric power. <P>SOLUTION: A remote controller 1 includes: an input part for accepting an instruction from a user; a mirror surface reflector 3 having a reflection surface configured of metal or a metal film for specularly reflecting infrared rays emitted from a liquid crystal television 10; and a transmission part for transmitting a signal corresponding to an instruction accepted by an input part to a liquid crystal television 10 in addition to rays of light reflected from the mirror surface reflector 3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an input device for remotely operating a display device, a display device operated by the input device, and an input system including these.

  As a first conventional technique, a technique as a coordinate input device used in a commercially available consumer game machine will be described. FIG. 26 is a diagram for explaining a conventional coordinate input device. As shown in the figure, in this prior art, infrared light emitted near the television is received by the camera 101 in the input device 100 and the image is transmitted to the game machine 103 using the wireless device 102 in the input device 100. To do.

  The game machine 103 estimates the direction in which the input device 100 is directed from the infrared light receiving position shown in the transmitted video. For example, when infrared light is emitted from the light emitting unit 105 disposed in the center of the television 104, if the light is emitted at the center of the image, the input device 100 is directed to the front, and the light emitting part is on the left side of the image. If it moves, it can be determined that the input device 100 has been moved to the right.

  As the second prior art, the invention described in Patent Document 1 can be cited. In the present invention, infrared light emitted near the display device is reflected by the operator's eyes, and the reflected light is detected by the light receiving unit on the display screen. When the operator's eyes are close to the display device, the position of the operator's eyes can be detected based on the position received on the display screen. When the operator moves his / her head, the position of the eyes changes, so the light receiving position on the display screen also changes. Even if the operator rotates the neck, the light receiving position changes because the reflection direction changes.

  As the third prior art, the invention described in Patent Document 2 can be cited. In this invention, a signal is transmitted to an electronic device by reflecting the infrared light transmitted from the electronic device with a reflecting plate included in the remote controller. At this time, the transmittance of infrared light of the liquid crystal panel is changed by changing the voltage applied to the liquid crystal panel arranged in front of the reflector, thereby forming a remote control signal. Patent Document 3 also describes an invention having a substantially similar configuration.

  As the fourth prior art, the invention described in Patent Document 4 is cited. In this invention, the diffusely reflected light from the input device provided with the irregular reflection film is received by the two sets of light receiving elements, and the position information of the input device is read based on the received reflected light.

In addition, as other conventional techniques, those using a retroreflector as described in Patent Document 5 and Patent Document 6, and as described in Patent Document 7, There is a technique in which reflected light and divergent light from the light source type indicating member are detected by two incident light detection units, and the coordinates of the coordinate indicating position are obtained based on the incident angle of the detected incident light.
JP 7-28589 A (published January 31, 1995) JP-A-6-233363 (published on August 19, 1994) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-34634 (published February 7, 1997) JP-A-5-233139 (published on September 10, 1993) JP 63-187329 A (published August 2, 1988) JP 10-177451 A (published June 30, 1998) JP 2003-316506 A (published on November 7, 2003)

  However, the first prior art increases the power consumption of the camera and the wireless communication unit, and is not suitable for use as a television remote control. For example, assuming that the power consumption is 150mW when used and 1mW when the power is off, use two AA manganese batteries 1.5V and 1000mAh, which are the same as those used for a typical TV remote control, for 2 hours a day. Then, the battery needs to be replaced in 9 days, and 78 batteries are consumed annually. In the first prior art, problems such as a large amount of energy consumption, troubles of frequent battery replacement, and adverse effects on the global environment due to an increase in used batteries occur.

  In the second prior art, the display device can be operated close to the display device. However, when the user moves away from the display device as in the case of watching TV, the light is reflected by a spherical and convex reflector. Then, since the reflected light diffuses, there is a problem that sufficient light receiving illuminance cannot be obtained in the light receiving unit and cannot be put into practical use. Moreover, although it seems that it can be solved easily by increasing the radiation intensity and light receiving sensitivity of infrared light emission, increasing the radiation intensity increases the power consumption of the infrared light emitting unit. In addition, if the radiation intensity is increased too much, infrared rays are absorbed by the eyeball, resulting in a rise in temperature, which may cause adverse effects on the eyes. Furthermore, in order to increase the light receiving sensitivity, it is necessary to increase the area of the light receiving element, and the luminance of the display device is lowered. In order to maintain the luminance of the display device, it is necessary to increase the luminance of the backlight of the display device, and there is a problem that power consumption increases. Further, when only the line of sight is changed without moving the head or neck, the reflected light does not change, and the accurate line of sight cannot be detected.

  The third prior art is an input device that changes the transmittance of the liquid crystal panel, but there is a problem that the incident light is weakened because the reflectance of the liquid crystal is low. In addition, since the receiving unit that receives the reflected light is fixed outside the display area of the television receiver, in order to input coordinates, the scattered light in the reflected wave can be input as in the invention described in Patent Document 4. There is no choice but to detect the intensity as described later.

  There are techniques for detecting the positional relationship between the display unit and the input device from the incident angle, etc., as in the inventions of Patent Document 4, Patent Document 5, Patent Document 6, or Patent Document 7, which are other conventional examples. , Which uses the recursion and scattering of reflected waves, cannot accurately detect the angle at which the input device is pointed. For example, in a display device such as a 40-inch television receiver, it is necessary to operate the input device within the same range as the screen size in order to indicate coordinates within the entire screen range. However, in general, a method of sitting and operating when watching TV is desired. For example, a method of operating by hand without moving the body even if standing is desired.

  For this purpose, it is necessary to detect the indicated angle with respect to the screen of the remote control, and there is a problem that intuitive input cannot be performed only by detecting the position of the remote control using retroreflected or scattered reflected waves as in the prior art. is there.

  As described above, there are many input devices for the purpose of coordinate input and input devices using infrared rays, but there are many input devices for display devices such as personal computers. For this reason, when trying to adapt to a general display device that has a large screen size such as a TV and is viewed away from the screen, the input device must be moved within the same area as the screen size. In order to solve the problem of scattering of reflected light or the problem of attenuation of infrared light due to low reflectance, there is a problem of increasing power consumption by increasing the intensity of infrared light emission.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to transmit information on the direction in which the input device is directed to the display device without consuming electric power. It is an object to provide an input device and an input system that can easily perform coordinate input.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an input device according to the present invention is an input device that emits light and inputs a signal to a display device that detects reflected light derived from the emitted light, and includes instructions from a user. The input unit accepts the input unit separately from the input unit receiving the mirror, the specular reflector having a reflective surface made of a metal or a metal film that specularly reflects the light emitted from the display device, and the reflected light from the specular reflector. And a transmission unit that transmits a signal corresponding to the instruction to the display device.

  According to said structure, the light radiate | emitted from the display apparatus is specularly reflected by a specular reflector. The specularly reflected light is detected by the display device. If this display apparatus determines the incident position of the light, the position on the display surface to which the input device is directed can be determined based on the incident position. In addition to the reflected light from the specular reflector, the transmission unit transmits a signal according to an instruction received by the input unit from the user to the display device. Therefore, it is possible to transmit to the display device what instruction is input to which position on the display surface. Further, since the user can input the designated position simply by changing the direction in which the input device is directed, intuitive coordinate input can be easily performed.

  The specular reflector has a reflecting surface made of metal or a metal film. A metal or metal film is a substance that can conduct electricity and has free electrons. When light is incident on the metal surface, resonance occurs between the metal cation and the free electron, and the energy is radiated and reflection occurs. Since the resonance phenomenon of free electrons on the reflecting surface of the specular reflector is used, light can be emitted from the input device without supplying power to the specular reflector. Therefore, information for determining at which position on the display surface of the display device the input device is directed can be transmitted to the display device without consuming power.

  Furthermore, the reflecting surface made of a metal or a metal film has a high reflectance, and can efficiently reflect the light emitted from the display device. In retroreflection, the reflection direction does not change even if the direction of the input device is changed. However, since the reflection direction changes in specular reflection, information on the angle of the input device relative to the display device is displayed via reflected light. Can be sent to.

  The light includes, for example, infrared light, visible light, ultraviolet light, and electromagnetic waves close to light.

  The specular reflector preferably includes a movable specular reflector disposed so as to be movable, and the movable specular reflector preferably moves in accordance with an instruction received by the input unit.

  According to said structure, according to the instruction | indication which the input part received, a moving specular reflector moves. Therefore, when the movable mirror reflector moves, the shape of the reflected light received by the display device changes. If the display device recognizes the change in the shape as an instruction from the user, the user's instruction can be input to the display device by changing the shape of the specular reflector.

  Therefore, it is possible to realize an input device that can input an instruction from a user without requiring a battery and an electric circuit.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the said light is infrared light, and the said input device is further equipped with the infrared filter which interrupts | blocks the visible light reflected on the said reflective surface.

  With the above configuration, the specular reflector can be prevented from being seen from the outside. A specular reflector using a metal has a characteristic of efficiently reflecting infrared rays, but also reflects visible light well. By arranging an infrared filter, not only can reflection of visible light from lighting equipment, etc. be suppressed, but inadvertent positional relationships of specular reflectors can cause reflections of objects that are not normally visible. This can reduce the possibility of infringement of privacy.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the said input device is further provided with the concave lens which condenses the reflected light reflected on the said reflective surface.

  According to said structure, the reflected light reflected on the reflective surface is condensed with a concave lens. Therefore, by collecting the reflected light on the display surface of the display device, it is possible to reduce the attenuation of the reflected light and increase the received light illuminance irradiated on the display surface.

  Moreover, it is preferable that an opening for allowing a signal transmitted from the transmission unit to pass through is formed in the reflection surface.

  With the above configuration, the signal transmitted from the transmission unit can be sent to the display device without being blocked by the specular reflector.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the said specular reflector has the thickness which can permeate | transmit the signal transmitted from the said transmission part.

  With the above configuration, it is possible to transmit a signal transmitted from the transmission unit while maintaining the role of the specular reflector as a reflector.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the transmission unit includes a wireless transmission unit.

  With the above configuration, a signal can be transmitted to the display device by wireless communication.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the said specular reflector is connected so that communication with the said wireless transmission part is possible, and functions as an antenna of the said wireless transmission part.

  With the above configuration, the antenna of the wireless transmission unit can be omitted, the input device can be reduced in size, and the cost of the input device can be reduced.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the said transmission part is provided with the infrared rays transmission part.

  With the above configuration, a signal can be transmitted to the display device by infrared communication.

  Further, a mobile phone equipped with the input device is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  The mobile phone preferably includes a control unit that controls a function of the mobile phone and generates a signal to be output to the transmission unit.

  With the above configuration, a signal to be output to the transmission unit can be generated by the control unit of the mobile phone.

  An input system according to the present invention is an input system including the input device and a display device that receives a signal transmitted from the input device, the display device including a light emitting unit that emits light, and the light emitting device. A display unit having a display surface on which a plurality of light detection units for detecting reflected light generated by reflection of light emitted by the unit is reflected by the specular reflector, a position of the light detection unit that detects the reflected light, and the above And a position determining unit that determines a position on the display surface to which the input device is directed based on the position of the light emitting unit.

  A display device according to the present invention is a display device that receives a signal from an input device including a specular reflector, and a light emitting unit that emits light and light emitted from the light emitting unit is reflected by the specular reflector. The input device is directed on the basis of a display unit having a display surface on which a plurality of light detection units for detecting reflected light generated by the detection, a position of the light detection unit that detects the reflected light, and a position of the light emitting unit. And a position determining unit for determining a position on the display surface.

  According to said structure, the light radiate | emitted from the display apparatus is specularly reflected by the specular reflector of an input device. The specularly reflected light is detected by a plurality of light detection units arranged on the display surface of the display device. The position determination unit determines a position on the display surface to which the input device is directed based on the position of the light detection unit that detects the reflected light and the position of the light emitting unit. Moreover, the transmission part of an input device transmits the signal according to the instruction | indication which the input part received from the user separately from the reflected light from a specular reflector to a display apparatus. Therefore, the display device can determine what instruction is input to which position on the display surface.

  At this time, information (indicated position information) for determining the position on the display surface to which the input device is directed is input to the display device by reflecting the light emitted from the display device by the specular reflector of the input device. Is done. Therefore, it is possible to transmit the indicated position information to the display device without consuming power on the input device side. Further, since the user can input the designated position simply by changing the direction in which the input device is directed, intuitive coordinate input can be easily performed.

  Furthermore, the reflecting surface made of a metal or a metal film has a high reflectance, and can efficiently reflect the light emitted from the display device. In retroreflection, the reflection direction does not change even if the direction of the input device is changed.However, since the reflection direction changes in specular reflection, the indication position information including information on the angle of the input device with respect to the display device is used as reflected light. To the display device.

  As described above, an input device according to the present invention includes an input unit that receives an instruction from a user, a specular reflector having a reflective surface made of a metal or a metal film that specularly reflects light emitted from a display device, and In addition to the reflected light from the specular reflector, the transmitting unit transmits a signal corresponding to the instruction received by the input unit to the display device.

  In the input system according to the present invention, the display device includes a light emitting unit that emits light, and a plurality of light detection units that detect reflected light generated when the light emitted from the light emitting unit is reflected by the specular reflector. A display unit having a display surface, and a position determination unit that determines a position on the display surface to which the input device is directed based on the position of the light detection unit that detects the reflected light and the position of the light emitting unit. It is the structure provided with.

  A display device according to the present invention includes a display surface on which a light emitting unit that emits light and a plurality of light detection units that detect reflected light generated by reflection of light emitted from the light emitting unit on the specular reflector are arranged. And a position determining unit that determines a position on the display surface to which the input device is directed based on the position of the light detecting unit that detects the reflected light and the position of the light emitting unit. .

  Therefore, it is possible to transmit information for determining to which position on the display surface of the display device the input device is directed to the display device without consuming power.

[Embodiment 1]
The following describes one embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIGS.

(Configuration of coordinate input system 30)
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a coordinate input system 30 according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the coordinate input system 30 includes a remote controller (input device) 1 and a liquid crystal television (display device) 10. The remote controller 1 is an input device that inputs signals to the liquid crystal television 10. The liquid crystal television 10 emits infrared light from the LEDs 11 (LEDs 11a and 11b), and the reflected light of the emitted infrared light at the remote controller 1 is detected by the optical sensor 34, whereby the display screen (display surface) indicated by the remote controller 1 is indicated. Determine the top position. Note that the display device included in the coordinate input system 30 may be a display device other than the liquid crystal television.

(Configuration of remote control 1)
2 is a schematic view showing the configuration of the remote control 1, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the remote control 1, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the remote control 1. As shown in FIG. 2 and 3, the remote controller 1 includes an infrared filter 2, a specular reflector 3 including a fixed specular reflector 3a and a movable specular reflector 3b, a moving unit 4, a switch (input unit) 5, an infrared light emission. Unit (infrared transmitter) 6, signal generator 7, and input key (input unit) 8. In FIG. 3, the specular reflector 3 is represented as one member, and the moving unit 4 and the switch 5 are omitted.

  The specular reflector 3 reflects the infrared light emitted from the LED (light emitting unit) 11 of the liquid crystal television 10 in a specular manner, and has a reflective surface 9 made of metal or a metal film. The reflecting surface 9 is flat or concave. As shown in FIG. 4, the specular reflector 3 is disposed substantially perpendicular to the side of the remote controller 1 on which the user can hold the remote controller 1, and operates the remote controller 1 toward the liquid crystal television 10. When it does, it is arrange | positioned at the edge part of the remote control 1 of the side near the liquid crystal television 10.

  Examples of the metal forming the reflective surface 9 include gold and copper in addition to silver and aluminum. With these metals, a reflectivity of almost 100% is obtained. As long as the metal has free electrons on the surface, the same effect can be obtained with other metals. However, as shown in FIG. 5, a metal that is easily oxidized, such as aluminum or copper, is protected by a protective portion 90 made of a transparent plastic or glass plate, or formed by an oxidation film (not shown) by oxidation. It is preferable to prevent reduction of free electrons. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the specular reflector 3.

  Furthermore, since the reflecting surface 9 has a reflectance of almost 100%, the incident energy and the radiant energy are equal. In addition, the specular reflection is characterized in that the light flux does not change because the incident angle and the reflection angle with respect to the reflecting surface are equal. That is, the receivable propagation distance when a part of the spherical wave is reflected is substantially the same as the receivable propagation distance when it is not reflected.

  As described above, because of the feature of maintaining a high reflectance and luminous flux, the light receiving unit of the liquid crystal television 10 (an optical sensor to be described later) is compared to the case of reflecting from a spherical or convex eyeball or the case of using scattered waves. The irradiation power in 32) can be dramatically increased.

  FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a moving mechanism of the movable specular reflector 3b. In FIG. 6, the infrared filter 2 is omitted for easy understanding. As shown in the figure, the specular reflector 3 includes a fixed specular reflector 3a and a moving specular reflector 3b. The fixed specular reflector 3 a is fixed to the casing of the remote controller 1. The movable specular reflector 3b is provided so as to be movable with respect to the casing of the remote controller 1, and moves according to an instruction received by the switch (input unit) 5.

  Specifically, when the switch 5 is pressed, the moving unit 4 moves, and the moving specular reflector 3b moves as the moving unit 4 moves. By moving the movable mirror reflector 3b, the shape of the reflected light of the entire mirror reflector 3 changes. However, the mechanism for moving the movable mirror reflector 3b is not limited to the one described above, and any mechanism may be used.

  It is not always necessary to provide the movable mirror reflector 3b, and the mirror reflector 3 may be formed as an integral reflector. In this case, the moving unit 4 and the switch 5 are not necessary.

  The infrared filter 2 blocks visible light reflected on the reflecting surface 9 of the specular reflector 3. The specular reflector 3 can be prevented from being seen from the outside by the infrared filter 2. The specular reflector 3 using metal has a characteristic of efficiently reflecting infrared rays, but also reflects visible light accordingly. By arranging the infrared filter 2, it is possible to suppress reflection of visible light from a lighting device or the like. Further, due to an inadvertent positional relationship of the specular reflector 3, there is a possibility that an article or the like that is originally invisible cannot be reflected on the reflector. The infrared filter 2 can reduce the concern that privacy will be violated in this way.

  In addition to the reflected light from the specular reflector 3, the infrared light emitting unit 6 transmits a signal in accordance with an instruction from the user received by the input key 8 to the liquid crystal television 10 by infrared communication.

  The signal generator 7 generates a signal according to the instruction from the user received by the input key 8 and outputs the signal to the infrared light emitter 6.

  The input keys 8 are keys for receiving instructions from the user, and a plurality of input keys 8 are provided on the remote controller 1. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the input key 8 of the remote controller 1. As shown in the figure, in the remote controller 1, the position on the screen of the liquid crystal television 10 can be designated simply by changing the direction pointing to the remote controller 1, so the number of operation keys of the remote controller 1 is conventionally (about 40 to 50). Than can be reduced. In the figure, a total of 28 input keys 8 including a basic operation key 81, a pointer selection key 82, a character input numeric keypad 83, and a data method four-color key 84 are arranged.

(Configuration of LCD TV 10)
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the liquid crystal television 10. As shown in the figure, the liquid crystal television 10 includes an LED (light emitting unit) 11, an LED driver 12, a pattern generating unit 13, a receiving unit 14, a display unit 15, a switching circuit 16, an IR receiving circuit 17, an A / D converter. 18, a storage unit 19 and a control unit 20 are provided. The control unit 20 includes a display control unit 21, a switching control unit 22, a blinking control unit 23, a position determination unit 24, a received signal analysis unit 25, a pattern generation control unit 26, a shape determination unit 27, and a pattern determination unit 28. .

  The LED 11 is a light emitting unit that emits infrared light, and is operated by the LED driver 12. Depending on the indication direction of the remote controller 1, infrared light may not be applied to the display screen of the liquid crystal television 10, so the LEDs 11 are arranged at least at two locations on both sides of the display screen (see FIG. 1) or at the four corners. It is preferable. In addition, as a light emission part with which the liquid crystal television 10 is provided, you may use the light emission part which radiate | emits electromagnetic waves near visible light, an ultraviolet-ray, or light, for example.

  FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the liquid crystal television 10. As shown in the figure, an LED lens 29 is disposed in front of the LED 11.

  The pattern generation unit 13 generates a light emission pattern for the LED 11 to emit light under the control of the pattern generation control unit 26. The pattern generator 13 causes the plurality of LEDs 11 to blink with different light emission patterns. Therefore, by analyzing the light receiving pattern, it is possible to determine which LED 11 has received the infrared light from each of the optical sensors 34 arranged on the display screen described later.

  The display unit 15 displays video on the screen. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the display unit 15. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the display unit 15 includes a color filter 31, a liquid crystal panel 32, a pixel 33, a photosensor (light detection unit) 34, a light diffusion sheet 35, a backlight 36, and a deflection filter 37. Yes.

  The display unit 15 is different from a general liquid crystal television in that an optical sensor 34 and a deflection filter 37 are provided.

  The optical sensor 34 is a photodetector that detects infrared light reflected by the specular reflector 3 of the remote controller 1, and is arranged along the display surface of the display unit 15 (more specifically, inside the liquid crystal panel 32. A plurality of the pixels 33 are arranged side by side. The photosensors 34 are preferably arranged at regular intervals.

  As shown in FIG. 10, an infrared filter 31a that blocks visible light is formed in a region of the color filter 31 where the optical sensor 34 is adjacent. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent visible light from entering the optical sensor 34.

  The deflection filter 37 transmits only light having the same deflection direction as the infrared light emitted from the LED 11. In other words, the deflection filter 37 blocks light having a deflection direction different from the infrared light emitted from the LED 11.

  By providing the infrared filter and the deflection filter 37 of the color filter 31 as described above, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the optical sensor 34 malfunctions when unnecessary light enters the optical sensor 34.

  FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the detailed configuration of the switching circuit 16 and the IR receiving circuit 17. As shown in the figure, the switching circuit 16 is a circuit for switching the optical sensor 34 connected to the IR receiving circuit 17, and operates under the control of the switching control unit 22.

  More specifically, the switching circuit 16 performs switching for sequentially scanning a large number of optical sensors 34. A large number of photosensors 34 (for example, 520,000) are arranged on the liquid crystal panel 32. If the same number of IR receiving circuits 17 and A / D converters 18 are mounted, the product cost is significantly increased. . Therefore, if 240 switching circuits 16 are provided as an example, 2160 photosensors 34 are sequentially switched by one switching circuit 16 and input to the IR receiving circuit 17, so that all the photosensors 34 are switched. Information is available.

  The IR receiver circuit 17 adjusts the amount of light received by the optical sensor 34. The IR receiving circuit 17 is also a circuit for mainly reducing the influence of the backlight 36. The backlight 36 is turned on at the time of dimming and black insertion, but if the backlight 36 is turned on, the amount of light incident on the optical sensor 34 increases. Therefore, it is preferable to correct a signal (information indicating the amount of light detection) output from the optical sensor 34 when the backlight 36 is turned on.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the IR receiving circuit 17 is affected by a DC offset canceller 17a that removes indoor light that is constantly radiated to the liquid crystal panel, a subtractor 17b that cancels the influence of the backlight, and lighting equipment that blinks at high speed. And a filter 17c for amplifying the received weak signal. The IR receiving circuit 17 can reduce the influence of the backlight 36 on the optical sensor 34 by subtracting the increase in the amount of light due to the light incident on the optical sensor 34 by the blinking of the backlight 36 by the subtractor 17b. The IR receiver circuit 17 outputs the corrected (subtracted) signal to the storage unit 19 via the A / D converter 18. Further, the IR receiving circuit 17 uses the A / D converter 18 to transmit information for determining the light emission pattern received by each optical sensor 34 (information indicating the temporal change in the amount of light received by each optical sensor 34). It outputs to the determination part 28.

  The storage unit 19 is a temporary storage memory, for example, and stores information output from the A / D converter 18 (information indicating the amount of light received by each optical sensor 34). The position determination unit 24 and the shape determination unit 27 acquire information regarding the amount of light received by each optical sensor 34 from the storage unit 19.

  The correction of the light amount in the IR receiving circuit 17 is performed under the control of the blinking control unit 23. The blinking control unit 23 controls blinking of the backlight 36 and instructs the IR receiving circuit 17 to perform correction (subtraction) to the subtracter 17b.

  Note that the blinking control unit 23 may output information indicating either the lighting or extinguishing state of the backlight 36 to the subtractor 17b.

  A plurality of switching circuits 16, IR receiving circuits 17 and A / D converters 18 may be provided. Further, these members may not be the same number. Further, the switching circuit 16 may be inserted before the A / D converter 18. Further, some of the components in the IR receiving circuit 17 may be realized as a single component. Further, the processing in the IR receiving circuit 17 may be replaced with arithmetic processing in the control unit 20.

  The position determination unit 24 acquires information indicating the amount of light received by each of the optical sensors 34 from the storage unit 19 and analyzes the information to detect the reflected light having a light intensity (light quantity) greater than or equal to a predetermined level. And the position on the display surface of the display unit 15 to which the remote controller 1 is directed is determined based on the specified position. The position determination unit 24 outputs designated position information indicating the determined position to the display control unit 21. Details of the processing in the position determination unit 24 will be described later.

  The shape determination unit 27 acquires information indicating the amount of light received by each optical sensor 34 from the storage unit 19 and analyzes the information to determine whether the image receiving shape of reflected light on the display unit 15 has changed from the reference shape. judge. In other words, the shape determination unit 27 determines whether or not the shape of the specular reflector 3 has changed due to the movement of the movable specular reflector 3b. The reference shape is an image receiving shape of the reflected light reflected by the specular reflector 3 when the movable specular reflector 3b is at the reference position. When the shape determination unit 27 determines that the image shape of the reflected light has changed from the reference shape, the shape determination unit 27 outputs shape change information indicating that fact to the display control unit 21.

  In addition, when the specular reflector 3 is formed as an integral reflector, the shape determining unit 27 is not necessary.

  The pattern determination unit 28 compares the light emission pattern generated by the pattern generation unit 13 with the light emission pattern output from the A / D converter 18 and determines whether or not the two match, whereby the optical sensor 34 It is determined whether the received infrared light is the reflected light of the infrared light emitted from which LED 11.

  The receiving unit 14 receives a signal transmitted from the infrared light emitting unit 6 of the remote controller 1 and outputs the received signal to the received signal analyzing unit 25.

  The reception signal analysis unit 25 analyzes the signal received by the reception unit 14 and outputs a user instruction indicated by the signal to the display control unit 21.

  The display control unit 21 controls the display of the display unit 15. In particular, the display position information output from the position determination unit 24, the shape change information output from the shape determination unit 27, and the received signal analysis unit 25 The display on the display unit 15 is controlled according to the received instruction.

  Specifically, the display control unit 21, for example, a group of operation buttons corresponding to the operation buttons displayed at the position indicated by the designated position information received from the position determination unit 24 when the shape change information is received from the shape determination unit 27. Among the processes, a process corresponding to the instruction received from the received signal analysis unit 25 is performed.

(Arrangement of LED 11)
As shown in FIG. 1, the LEDs 11 (LEDs 11 a and 11 b) are arranged at, for example, two places on the left and right of the screen of the liquid crystal television 10. FIG. 12 is a view for explaining the positional relationship between the LED 11 and the specular reflector 3, and is a view of the liquid crystal television 10 viewed from above. In the positional relationship shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, the liquid crystal television 10 can detect the reflected light from the specular reflector 3. However, when the LED 11 is disposed only at one location, an undetectable direction occurs as shown in FIG. Therefore, it is preferable to arrange the LEDs 11 at two places on the left and right of the screen of the liquid crystal television 10.

  Moreover, you may arrange | position LED11 in four places of the right and left of the screen of the liquid crystal television 10, and up and down, or four corners. Since there is little sense of incongruity in the vertical misalignment, it is not always necessary to arrange the LEDs 11 above and below the screen of the liquid crystal television 10, but it is necessary to verify usability and arrange them in two places or in four corners. Can be judged.

(Details of LED11)
FIGS. 13A and 13B are diagrams for explaining the details of the LED 11. As shown in FIG. 13A, the infrared light emitted from the LED 11 spreads in space, but the power per omnidirectional solid angle 1 sr [steradian] is constant. This is shown by the following equation (1).

Light reception illuminance (Ed) [mW / cm ² ]
= Radiation intensity (le) [mW / sr] / Distance (d ² ) [cm ² ] (1)
As shown in FIG. 13B, a case is considered where the operation is performed at a position 3 m away from the LED 11 that emits infrared light having a radiation intensity of 500 mW / sr.

The propagation distance of infrared light is 6 m (60 cm) in a round trip. When the area of the specular reflector 3 is 5 cm ² , the received light illuminance is 1.4 uW / cm ² and the total received light illuminance (P) is 28 uW. When the wavelength (λ) of infrared light is 900 nm, the quantum efficiency (QE) is 80%, and the density (S) is 1/4/4, the photocurrent (Id) is
Id = QE × P × λ × S / 1240 nm = 1.7 uA
It becomes. When terminated with 1 MΩ, Vd = 1.7 V is obtained. However, this is the total output voltage of the photosensors 34 group.

(Processing in the position determination unit 24)
Next, two specific examples of the designated position determination process in the position determination unit 24 will be described. However, these examples are merely examples, and the processing in the position determination unit 24 is not limited to these examples.

(Example 1)
(Determining the position in the X direction)
FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining an example of the designated position determination process in the position determination unit 24. In this example, it is assumed that 960 photosensors 34 are arranged in the X direction (lateral direction) of the liquid crystal panel 32. In order to simplify the explanation, it is assumed that two LEDs 11 (LEDs 11a and 11b) are arranged in the X direction (on the left and right sides of the screen), but the calculation results when four or more LEDs 11 are used are averaged. May be used.

(Position determination by infrared light from LED 11a)
The distance between the LED 11a and the photosensor 34 at the position of X = 0 is expressed as Xoffset, and the width in the major axis direction of the specular reflector 3 is expressed as Xref. Further, Xref is at least larger than half of Xoffset, and has a length of about Xoffset as an example.

  Further, the position of the photosensor 34 that has received reflected light having a light quantity greater than or equal to a predetermined amount is defined as a detection point Xda (0 to 959), and the minimum position (position closest to the LED 11a) among the plurality of photosensors 34 that have continuously received light. ) Is Xda_min, and the detection value of the optical sensor 34 at the maximum position (the position farthest from the LED 11a) is Xda_max. Further, assuming that the validity of the LED 11a in the region of Xda_max−Xda_min is allowed to be 1/2 to 2 times Xref, the position correction value of the LED 11a outside X = 0 is set to Xoffset.

  First, the pattern determination unit 28 compares the signal pattern output from the IR reception circuit 17 via the A / D converter 18 with the signal pattern generated by the pattern generation unit 13 to thereby detect the optical sensor 34. It is determined whether the infrared light received by is the reflected light of the infrared light emitted from which LED 11. Here, it is assumed that the position determination unit 24 determines that the infrared light received by the optical sensor 34 is reflected light of the infrared light emitted from the LED 11a.

  Then, the position determination unit 24 calculates the position (instructed position) pointed to by the remote controller 1 by the following equation (2).

Instructed position Xi = (Xda_min + Xda_max) / 4−Xoffset / 2 (2)
Here, Xref <(Xda_max−Xda_min) <4Xref.

  The indicated position based on the detection point Xdb (0 to 959) with respect to the opposite LED 11b is calculated using the following equation (3).

Instructed position Xi = (Xdb_min + Xdb_max) / 4 + Xoffset / 2 + 960/2 (3)
Here, Xref <(Xdb_max−Xdb_min) <4Xref.

  However, under the condition of Xoffset> 0, Xda_max or Xdb_min cannot be detected when the condition of Xda_min> 960-2 × Xref or Xdb_max <2 × Xref is satisfied. 4) Calculated by the equation.

Instructed position Xi = (Xda_min + Xdb_max) / 4 + 960/4 (4)
Here, Xda_min> 960-4Xref or Xdb_max <4 × Xref.

(Determining the position in the Y direction)
Further, 540 photosensors 34 are arranged in the Y direction (vertical direction) of the liquid crystal panel 32. As shown in FIG. 27, two LEDs 11 (LEDs 11c and 11d) are arranged in the Y direction (up and down direction of the screen). The designated position Yi in the Y direction when it is arranged is similarly obtained using the following equations (5) to (7). FIG. 27 is a schematic diagram illustrating a modification example of the arrangement of the LEDs 11.

Yi = (Ydc_min + Ydc_max) / 4−Yoffset / 2 (5)
Here, Yref <(Ydc_max−Ydc_min) <4Yref.

Yi = (Ydd_min + Ydd_max) / 4 + Yoffset / 2 + 540/2 (6)
Here, Yref <(Ydd_max−Ydd_min) <4Yref.

Yi = (Ydc_min + Ydd_max) / 4 + 540/4 (7)
Here, Ydc_min> 540-4Xref or Ydd_max <4 × Xref.

  Further, the designated position Yi ′ in the Y direction when there are two LEDs 11 in the X direction can be calculated from the following equation (8).

Yi ′ = (Ydc_min + Ydc_max + Ydd_min + Ydd_max) / 4 (8)
However, since detection becomes difficult under conditions of approximately Yi ′> (540−2 × Yref) and Yi ′ <2 × Yref, it is preferable to correct by the equation Yi = Yi ′ × α + β. However, α <1 and β is an arbitrary number.

  As described above, the position determination unit 24 acquires information indicating the amount of light received by each optical sensor 34 from the storage unit 19, and detects the position (in the X direction) of the optical sensor 34 that has detected reflected light having a predetermined or higher light intensity. The detection point Xd) is specified. Then, the position determining unit 24 introduces the specified position (detection point Xd) into all or some of the expressions (2) to (4) above, thereby indicating the indicated position (the indicated position in the X direction) indicated by the remote controller 1. ). Further, the position determination unit 24 further determines the indicated position in the Y direction indicated by the remote controller 1 by introducing the detection point Yd in the Y direction into all or some of the expressions (5) to (8). May be.

(Example 2)
The area where the reflected light of the specular reflector 3 is reflected on the display screen of the liquid crystal television 10 is almost constant regardless of the propagation distance, and the indication position is determined by using the fact that the image receiving shape of the reflected light is known in advance. To do. Also in this case, the position determination unit 24 acquires information indicating the amount of light received by each optical sensor 34 from the storage unit 19, and analyzes the information so that the infrared light received by the optical sensor 34 is detected by any LED 11. It is determined whether it is reflected light of infrared light emitted from.

  When the size of the reflecting surface 9 of the specular reflector 3 is Xref × Yref, the image receiving area on the display screen of the liquid crystal television 10 is constant at approximately 2Xref × 2Yref.

  Let Xda (n) be the infrared X-direction signal emitted from the LED 11a and recorded in the storage unit 19, i being the maximum Pa (i) in the following equation (9) is Xda_ave.

  If the detection signal in the X direction of the infrared ray emitted from the LED 11b is Xdb (n), i that maximizes Pb (i) in the following equation (10) is defined as Xdb_ave.

  When the allowable error for determining the effectiveness of the LED 11a and the LED 11b is γ (> 0), the indicated position can be obtained by using any of the following formulas (11) to (13).

(When only LED 11a is enabled)
Instructed position Xi = (Xda_ave) / 2−Xoffset / 2 (11)
Here, Pa (Xda_ave)> Pb (Xdb_ave) + γ.

(When only LED 11b is enabled)
Instructed position Xi = (Xdb_ave) / 2 + Xoffset / 2 + 960/2 (12)
Here, Pb (Xdb_ave)> Pa (Xda_ave) + γ.

(When both LED 11a and LED 11b are enabled)
Instructed position Xi = (Xda_ave + Xdb_ave) / 4 + 960/4 (13)
Here, Pa (Xda_ave) −Pb (Xdb_ave) <± γ.

  Similarly, in the case where the LED 11c and the LED 11d are present in the Y direction, in addition to the same expression as the expression (9) or (10) above, any one of the following expressions (14) to (16) is used to indicate the position. Can be calculated.

Yi = (Ydc_ave) / 2−Yoffset / 2 (14)
Here, Pc (Ydc_ave)> Pd (Ydd_ave) + γ.

Yi = (Ydd_ave) / 2 + Yoffset / 2 + 540/2 (15)
Here, Pd (Ydd_ave)> Pc (Ydc_ave) + γ.

Yi = (Ydc_ave + Ydd_ave) / 4 + 540/4 (16)
Here, Pc (Ydc_ave) −Pd (Ydd_ave) <± γ.

  The designated position Yi in the Y direction when there are two LEDs 11 is calculated using the following equation (17).

Yi ′ = (Ydc + Ydd) / 2 (17)
However, since correction becomes difficult under the condition of Yi ′> (540−2 × Yref) or Yi ′ <2 × Yref, it is preferable to correct by an equation such as Yi ′ × α + β. However, α <1 and β is an arbitrary number.

  As described above, the position determination unit 24 detects the position (in the X direction) of the optical sensor 34 that has detected the reflected light having a predetermined light intensity or more from the information in the storage unit 19 in which the amount of light received by each optical sensor 34 is recorded. The detection point Xd) is specified. Then, the position determination unit 24 introduces the specified position (detection point Xd) into the above formula (9) or (10), and introduces the obtained value into any of the above formulas (11) to (13). Thus, the indicated position (indicated position in the X direction) pointed to by the remote controller 1 is determined. In addition, the position determination unit 24 adds the detection point Yd in the Y direction to the same position as the expression (9) or (10), and uses any one of the expressions (14) to (16). May be calculated and the indicated position in the Y direction indicated by the remote controller 1 may be determined.

(Processing flow in the coordinate input system 30)
Next, an example of a processing flow in the coordinate input system 30 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process flow in the coordinate input system 30. Here, a case where infrared light is emitted from the LED 11a disposed on the left side of the display screen of the liquid crystal television 10 will be described as an example.

  First, infrared light is emitted from the LED 11a (S1).

  The emitted infrared light is reflected by the specular reflector 3 of the remote controller 1 (S2).

  When the infrared light reflected by the specular reflector 3 enters the display unit 15 of the liquid crystal television 10, the infrared light is detected by a part of the plurality of photosensors 34 provided in the display unit 15 (S3). .

  When the optical sensor 34 receives infrared light, a signal indicating that is transmitted to the IR receiving circuit 17 via the switching circuit 16. At this time, the IR receiving circuit 17 corrects the intensity (light reception amount) of the signal output from the optical sensor 34 when the backlight 36 is lit (S4). If the backlight 36 is not turned on, no correction is necessary. The IR receiver circuit 17 outputs the corrected signal to the position determination unit 24 via the A / D converter 18.

  When receiving the signal, the position determining unit 24 determines the indicated position from the received signal by the method described above, and outputs the indicated position information indicating the determined indicated position to the display control unit 21 (S5).

  On the other hand, when the switch 5 of the remote controller 1 is pressed by the user, the shape of the specular reflector 3 changes as the movable specular reflector 3b moves from the reference position (S6). With this change, the image receiving shape of the reflected light on the display unit 15 changes.

  Information about the amount of light received by each optical sensor 34 is recorded in the storage unit 19 via the switching circuit 16, the IR reception circuit 17, and the A / D converter 18, and the shape determination unit 27 is recorded in the storage unit 19. Is compared with the image receiving shape when the moving specular reflector 3b is at the reference position to determine whether the image receiving shape of the reflected light has changed, and it is determined that the image receiving shape has changed Then, shape change information indicating that is output to the display control unit 21 (S7). Note that information indicating the image receiving shape when the movable mirror reflector 3b is at the reference position may be stored in the storage unit 19 in advance.

  Upon receiving the shape change information, the display control unit 21 recognizes the position indicated by the indicated position information received from the position determining unit 24 at that time as the determined indicated position, and selects the operation button displayed at the indicated position. Recognized as a target operation button (S8).

  Here, when the input key 8 of the remote controller 1 is pressed by the user and a command signal instructing to perform a specific process is transmitted from the infrared light emitting unit 6 (S9), the command signal is received by the receiving unit 14 of the liquid crystal television 10. (S10).

  When the receiving unit 14 receives the command signal, the command signal is output to the received signal analyzing unit 25 and analyzed by the received signal analyzing unit 25 (S11). The received signal analysis unit 25 outputs the analysis result to the display control unit 21.

  Upon receiving the analysis result, the display control unit 21 executes a process (for example, channel switching) indicated by the analysis result among the group of processes corresponding to the target operation button (S12).

  Note that the above-described processing flow is merely an example, and may be changed as appropriate according to changes in the configuration of the remote controller 1 and the liquid crystal television 10.

(Example of display screen)
FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a channel operation screen of the liquid crystal television 10. As shown in the figure, a channel operation screen may be displayed on the liquid crystal television 10, and the channel may be switched by operating the remote controller 1 on this screen.

  In the current television, the number of channels increases as broadcasting forms such as terrestrial, BS, and CS diversify, and it is difficult to specify a desired channel. However, if the coordinate input system 30 is used, it becomes easy to designate a desired channel on the channel operation screen.

  Further, switching of multi-knitting channels, branch number channels, and switching of input terminals can be easily performed by using the coordinate input system 30.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a character input screen of the liquid crystal television 10. As shown in the figure, a character input screen may be displayed on the liquid crystal television 10, and the character input may be performed by operating the remote controller 1 on this screen.

  In the next generation TV VOD, it is necessary to search for a program to be viewed, and for this purpose, character input is required. If the coordinate input system 30 is used, character input can be performed easily.

  FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of a video operation screen of the liquid crystal television 10. As shown in the figure, a video operation screen (screen for playing, fast-forwarding, rewinding, etc.) may be displayed on the liquid crystal television 10, and the video may be operated by operating the remote controller 1 on this screen. .

  By using the coordinate input system 30, it is possible to input in an analog manner and to perform an intuitive operation. For example, if the “select key” is pressed during video playback, “playback position display” and “fast forward / rewind speed display” appear, and the “playback position display” bar 45 is moved left and right to fast forward / rewind. You may be able to perform.

(Example of change)
Various modifications may be made to the remote controller 1 and the liquid crystal television 10 described above. Hereinafter, these modified examples will be described.

(Modification 1)
FIG. 19 is a perspective view of the remote controller 1 including the concave lens 41. It is preferable to provide a concave lens 41 in front of the specular reflector 3 of the remote controller 1. The concave lens 41 condenses the reflected light reflected on the reflecting surface 9 of the specular reflector 3.

  The illuminance of the reflected light applied to the display unit 15 decreases in inverse proportion to the square of the focal length of the lens, but the light receiving area does not change much depending on the distance of the remote controller, and is always about four times that of the specular reflector 3. Is the light receiving area. However, by using the concave lens 41, the light receiving area can be reduced and the light receiving illuminance received by one light receiving element can be increased. For example, by setting the focal length of the lens to about twice the distance from the liquid crystal screen of the liquid crystal television 10 to the remote controller 1, the energy of the reflected light can be condensed at one point on the screen.

  Since the distance from the liquid crystal screen to the remote controller 1 varies depending on how it is used, it is preferable to set a recommended viewing distance in advance. For example, if the size of the liquid crystal screen of the liquid crystal television 10 is 52 inches and the recommended viewing distance is 3 times the height of the screen size, 2 m is set as the distance to the remote controller 1.

  With the above configuration, the light receiving area changes depending on the distance from the specular reflector 3, so that the distance to the remote controller 1 can be estimated. In this case, the liquid crystal television 10 may be provided with a distance calculation unit that calculates the distance to the remote controller 1.

  Further, the concave lens 41 may be provided with a filter film corresponding to the infrared filter 2.

(Modification 2)
FIG. 20 is a perspective view showing a configuration in which the opening 42 is provided in the reflecting surface 9 of the specular reflector 3. As shown in the figure, the reflection surface 9 of the specular reflector 3 is preferably formed with an opening 42 through which a signal transmitted from the infrared light emitting unit 6 passes.

  With this configuration, infrared light from the infrared light emitting unit 6 in the remote controller 1 can be transmitted toward the liquid crystal television 10.

(Modification 3)
FIG. 21 is a perspective view showing a configuration in which the thickness of the metal film or metal layer having the reflecting surface 9 of the specular reflector 3 is reduced. As shown in the figure, the metal film or metal layer forming the reflecting surface 9 preferably has a thickness capable of transmitting a signal (infrared light) transmitted from the infrared light emitting unit 6. That is, the specular reflector 3 may be a half mirror. The signal from the infrared light emitting unit 6 is transmitted by transmitting the signal from the infrared light emitting unit 6 disposed in the remote controller 1 while thinning the metal film or metal layer of the reflecting surface 9 and maintaining the role as a reflector. Can be sent to the liquid crystal television 10.

  When the infrared light emitting unit 6 in the remote control 1 is turned off, the remote control 1 is dark, so a resonance phenomenon occurs on the metal surface and the infrared light is reflected. Further, when the infrared light emitting unit 6 in the remote control 1 is lit, the infrared light in the remote control 1 is emitted through the thin metal film.

(Modification 4)
FIG. 22 is a perspective view showing a configuration in which the remote controller 1 is mounted on the mobile phone 60. As shown in the figure, in a mobile phone having a control unit that generates a transmission signal by an input unit, an output signal of the control unit is output to an infrared light emitting unit 6 in the remote control 1, thereby making the remote control 1 a mobile phone. It is also possible to apply. In this case, a control unit 43 that controls the function of the mobile phone 60 and generates a signal to be output to the infrared light emitting unit 6 may be provided.

(Modification 5)
FIG. 23 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration in which three LEDs 11 are provided on each of the left and right sides of the display screen of the liquid crystal television 10. As shown in the figure, three LEDs 11 may be provided on the left and right of the display screen of the liquid crystal television 10, for a total of six, and the emission patterns of the infrared light emitted by the LEDs 11 may be different. In other words, the liquid crystal television 10 may be provided with a plurality of LEDs 11 having different light emission patterns.

  And in the position determination part 24 of the liquid crystal television 10, you may determine the instruction | indication position of the remote control 1 using the several position which received the reflected light of the infrared light radiate | emitted from said several LED11.

  In this case, the position determination unit 24 analyzes which infrared light received by the specific optical sensor 34 is derived from the infrared light emitted by which LED 11 by analyzing the light reception pattern of the infrared light. judge.

  With this configuration, the pointing position can be corrected and noise can be removed, and the pointing position of the remote controller 1 can be determined more accurately. For example, it is possible to remove a designated position that is significantly different from other designated positions, or to perform position correction and noise removal by averaging a plurality of designated positions.

  In this configuration, when the indicated position is calculated, the values of Xoffset and Yoffset are different for each pattern.

(Effect of coordinate input system 30)
As described above, in the coordinate input system 30, the remote controller 1 does not consume power for coordinate input (processing for indicating a position on the display screen of the liquid crystal television 10). Therefore, the startup time of the remote controller 1 that generally obtains power from the battery can be extended.

  Further, since the reflecting surface 9 is formed of a metal film or a metal layer, the loss of reflected light in the specular reflector 3 can be reduced, so that the area occupied by the optical sensor 34 in the liquid crystal panel 32 can be reduced. . As a result, the brightness of the liquid crystal panel 32 can be improved and the power consumption of the LED 11 can be reduced.

  In addition, the number of operation buttons of the remote controller 1 can be reduced, and operability such as channel operation, character input operation, and video operation such as fast-forward / fast-reverse / replay of a recorded program can be improved.

[Embodiment 2]
The following will describe another embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIGS. In addition, about the member similar to Embodiment 1, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and the description is abbreviate | omitted. In the following, another embodiment of the remote controller will be described.

  FIG. 24 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the remote controller 50 of the present embodiment. In the figure, the infrared filter 2 is omitted for easy understanding. As shown in the figure, the remote controller 50 includes a wireless communication unit (wireless transmission unit) 51, unlike the remote controller 1 including the infrared light emitting unit 6. That is, the remote controller 50 transmits an instruction input by the user pressing the input key 8 to the liquid crystal television 10 by wireless communication. In this case, the receiving unit 14 included in the liquid crystal television 10 is a receiving unit for wireless communication. As a wireless communication standard, for example, Bluetooth can be used.

  The high-frequency circuit included in the wireless communication unit 51 is communicably connected to the specular reflector 3, and the specular reflector 3 functions as an antenna of the wireless transmission unit.

  FIG. 25 is a perspective view showing a configuration in which the remote controller 50 is mounted on the mobile phone 61. As shown in the figure, the remote controller 50 may be mounted on a mobile phone 61. In that case, the control unit 62 of the mobile phone 61 may be connected to the wireless communication unit 51. In this case, the control unit 62 controls the function as the mobile phone 61 and generates a signal to be output to the wireless communication unit 51. A member denoted by reference numeral 63 is a substrate.

  Since the operation of the remote controller 50 is substantially the same as the operation of the remote controller 1, the description thereof is omitted.

(Other changes)
The non-flashing continuous light detected by the optical sensor 34 may be removed by the DC offset canceller 17a or the filter 17c.

  As the LED 11, point light source infrared light may be used. In this case, infrared light is detected in a wide range.

  The reflected light detected in a region having a predetermined area (for example, 4 times or more) of the specular reflector 3 of the remote controller 1 or 50 is removed by performing image processing on the image (sensor image) generated by the optical sensor 34. May be. Further, based on the shape and size of the specular reflector 3, the reflected light from an object other than the specular reflector 3 may be removed by image processing of the sensor image. These processes may be performed by the position determination unit 24, for example.

  Infrared light having a frequency different from that of other IR devices may be emitted from the LED 11, and an infrared light signal having a frequency other than the frequency of the infrared light emitted from the LED 11 may be removed by the filter 17c.

  The DC offset canceller 17a for the backlight 36 may be applied to adjacent pixels. Since the light is not affected when dimming or black insertion is turned off, the period may be used for correction. Further, the influence of adjacent pixels may be removed by image processing for subtracting the luminance of a part of the display image from the sensor image.

  Simultaneous input by a plurality of remote controllers may be possible. That is, it may be possible to handle multiple users.

  By analyzing the light receiving shape of the reflected light from the specular reflector 3, the rotation angle (indicated direction axis) of the remote controllers 1 and 50 may be detected. Alternatively, the positions of the remote controllers 1 and 50 may be detected by analyzing the light receiving shape of the reflected light from the specular reflector 3. These processes may be performed by the shape determining unit 27, for example.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope shown in the claims, and embodiments obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments. Is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  The blocks of the remote controllers 1 and 50 and the liquid crystal television 10 described above may be configured by hardware logic, or may be realized by software using a CPU as follows.

  That is, the remote controllers 1 and 50 and the liquid crystal television 10 have a central processing unit (CPU) that executes instructions of a control program that realizes each function, a read only memory (ROM) that stores the program, and a RAM ( random access memory), a storage device (recording medium) such as a memory for storing the program and various data. The object of the present invention is to record the program codes (execution format program, intermediate code program, source program) of the control programs for the remote controllers 1 and 50 and the liquid crystal television 10 which are software for realizing the functions described above so that they can be read by a computer. This can also be achieved by supplying the recorded medium to the remote controllers 1 and 50 and the liquid crystal television 10 and reading and executing the program code recorded on the recording medium by the computer (or CPU or MPU).

  Examples of the recording medium include tapes such as magnetic tapes and cassette tapes, magnetic disks such as floppy (registered trademark) disks / hard disks, and disks including optical disks such as CD-ROM / MO / MD / DVD / CD-R. Card system such as IC card, IC card (including memory card) / optical card, or semiconductor memory system such as mask ROM / EPROM / EEPROM / flash ROM.

  The remote controllers 1 and 50 and the liquid crystal television 10 may be configured to be connectable to a communication network, and the program code may be supplied via the communication network. The communication network is not particularly limited. For example, the Internet, intranet, extranet, LAN, ISDN, VAN, CATV communication network, virtual private network, telephone line network, mobile communication network, satellite communication. A net or the like is available. Also, the transmission medium constituting the communication network is not particularly limited. For example, even in the case of wired such as IEEE 1394, USB, power line carrier, cable TV line, telephone line, ADSL line, etc., infrared rays such as IrDA and remote control, Bluetooth ( (Registered trademark), 802.11 wireless, HDR, mobile phone network, satellite line, terrestrial digital network, and the like can also be used. The present invention can also be realized in the form of a computer data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program code is embodied by electronic transmission.

  The present invention can also be expressed as follows.

  That is, the coordinate input system of the present invention includes at least a specular reflector formed with a metal or a metal film, one or more input means, a signal generation unit that emits a signal pattern according to the input means, and an infrared light emitting unit. The input device is arranged so that the reflective surface of the reflector faces the direction of the display device when the input means is operated. The input device is combined with the display device.

  The coordinate input system of the present invention includes at least a mirror reflector formed with a metal or a metal film, one or more input means, a signal generation unit that emits a signal pattern corresponding to the input means, and an antenna unit. The input device is combined with the display device, and the input device is characterized in that the reflective surface of the reflector faces the direction of the display device when the input means is operated.

  When the operation button is dropped, the input device preferably transmits to the display unit that the button has been dropped by moving a part of the specular reflector to change the reflection shape.

  The input device is preferably provided with an infrared filter that blocks visible light in the direction of the reflecting surface of the specular reflector.

  In the input device, it is preferable that a concave lens is disposed in front of the specular reflector to collect the reflected light on the display unit.

  In the input device, it is preferable that a part of the metal plate or the metal film of the specular reflector is opened to transmit the infrared light emitting part.

  In the input device, it is preferable that the metal plate or the metal film of the specular reflector is thinned and transmitted through the infrared light emitting unit disposed in the input device.

  In the input device, it is preferable that a high frequency circuit is connected to a metal or a metal film so that the infrared reflection portion is shared with the antenna portion.

  In a mobile phone incorporating an input device, it is preferable to generate a transmission signal to be output to the infrared light emitting unit by a control unit in the mobile phone.

  It is preferable to generate a transmission signal to be output to the antenna unit by the control unit in the mobile phone.

  The coordinate input system of the present invention has a display device in which at least the input device, two or more infrared light emitting means, a means for generating a light emission pattern, and a means for detecting a light quantity are arranged on a display surface. The infrared light emitted from the infrared light emitting means by the generating means and reflected by the concave or flat specular reflection portion made of a metal or metal film formed in the input device is reflected in the display area of the display means. The position of the display unit is designated from the input device by detecting the light amount detecting means arranged in the above.

  Information for determining which position on the display surface of the display device is directed to the input device can be transmitted to the display device without consuming power. It can be applied to an input system comprising

It is the schematic which shows the structure of the coordinate input system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the structure of the remote control contained in the said coordinate input system. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the said remote control. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of the said remote control. It is the schematic which shows the structure of a specular reflector. It is a perspective view which shows the moving mechanism of a moving specular reflector. It is a figure which shows an example of the input key of the said remote control. It is the schematic which shows the structure of the liquid crystal television contained in the said coordinate input system. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the said liquid crystal television. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the display part of the said liquid crystal television. It is the schematic which shows the detailed structure of a switching circuit and IR receiving circuit. (A)-(c) is a figure for demonstrating the positional relationship of LED and a specular reflector. (A) And (b) is a figure for demonstrating the detail of LED. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the instruction | indication position determination process in a position determination part. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of a process in the said coordinate input system. It is a figure which shows an example of the channel operation screen of the said liquid crystal television. It is a figure which shows an example of the character input screen of the said liquid crystal television. It is a figure which shows an example of the video operation screen of the said liquid crystal television. It is a perspective view of a remote control provided with a concave lens. It is a perspective view which shows the structure which provides an opening part in the reflective surface of a specular reflector. It is a perspective view which shows the structure which makes thickness of the reflective surface of a specular reflector thin. It is a perspective view which shows the structure which mounts the said remote control in a mobile telephone. It is the schematic which shows the structure which provides LED 3 each on the right and left of the display screen of a liquid crystal television. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the remote control which concerns on another embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the structure which mounts the said remote control in a mobile telephone. It is a figure for demonstrating the conventional coordinate input device. It is the schematic which shows the example of a change of arrangement | positioning of LED in the said liquid crystal television.

Explanation of symbols

1 Remote control (input device)
2 Infrared filter 3 Specular reflector 3a Fixed mirror reflector 3b Moving mirror reflector 5 Switch (input unit)
6 Infrared light emitter (transmitter)
8 Input keys (input section)
9 Reflecting surface 10 LCD TV (display device)
11 LED (light emitting part)
11a LED (light emitting part)
11b LED (light emitting part)
11c LED (light emitting part)
11d LED (light emitting part)
15 Display Unit 24 Position Determination Unit 30 Coordinate Input System 34 Optical Sensor (Photodetection Unit)
43 Control unit 50 Remote control 51 Wireless communication unit (transmission unit)
60 mobile phone 61 mobile phone 62 control unit

Claims (13)

An input device that emits light and inputs a signal to a display device that detects reflected light derived from the emitted light,
An input unit for receiving instructions from the user;
A specular reflector having a reflecting surface made of a metal or a metal film that specularly reflects light emitted from the display device;
In addition to the reflected light from the specular reflector, an input device comprising: a transmission unit that transmits a signal according to an instruction received by the input unit to the display device. The specular reflector includes a movable specular reflector arranged movably,
The input device according to claim 1, wherein the movable specular reflector moves according to an instruction received by the input unit. The light is infrared light,
The input device according to claim 1, further comprising an infrared filter that blocks visible light reflected by the reflecting surface.   The input device according to claim 1, further comprising a concave lens that collects the reflected light reflected by the reflection surface.   The input device according to claim 1, wherein an opening that allows a signal transmitted from the transmitter to pass through is formed in the reflective surface.   The input device according to claim 1, wherein the specular reflector has a thickness capable of transmitting a signal transmitted from the transmission unit.   The input device according to claim 1, wherein the transmission unit includes a wireless transmission unit.   The input device according to claim 7, wherein the specular reflector is communicably connected to the wireless transmission unit and functions as an antenna of the wireless transmission unit.   The input device according to claim 1, wherein the transmission unit includes an infrared transmission unit.   A mobile phone equipped with the input device according to claim 1.   The mobile phone according to claim 10, further comprising a control unit that controls a function of the mobile phone and generates a signal to be output to the transmission unit. An input system comprising the input device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, and a display device that receives a signal transmitted from the input device,
The display device
A light emitting unit for emitting light;
A display unit having a display surface on which a plurality of light detection units for detecting reflected light generated by the light emitted from the light emitting unit being reflected by the specular reflector are disposed;
An input system comprising: a position determining unit that determines a position on the display surface to which the input device is directed based on a position of the light detecting unit that detects the reflected light and a position of the light emitting unit; . A display device for receiving a signal from an input device including a specular reflector,
A light emitting unit for emitting light;
A display unit having a display surface on which a plurality of light detection units for detecting reflected light generated by the light emitted from the light emitting unit being reflected by the specular reflector are disposed;
A display device comprising: a position determining unit that determines a position on the display surface to which the input device is directed based on a position of the light detecting unit that detects the reflected light and a position of the light emitting unit. .

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